THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.christnet,alt.magick,alt.occult,talk.religion.newage,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nocTifer) Subject: Whitehead and Theurgy (was Esoteric Christianity) Date: 13 Jan 1999 02:58:32 -0800 49980607 aa3! Hail Satan peace be upon you, my kin. DOC A FOX: # Ok we have mentioned the Whitehead interview in Gnosis Number 45 # Fall 1997, about Esoteric Christianity. didn't RevMa Lainie provide several quotes to which I responded? I thought her analysis was very interesting. quotes from it: # "Esoteric Christianity is ... becoming a Mediator of Spiritual Energy # ...magical or theurgical Christianity is concerned with mediating the # divine energies to the outer world through a connection with the # magical realm, the inner side of Creation." 'esoteric' literally means 'of a small group' or, conventionally, 'of a special character known to such a small group (such as by virtue of being technical)'. thus 'esoteric Christianity' just means 'a type of Christianity reserved for or participated in by a small group'. the present climate of intolerance surrounding liberal and mystical forms of Christianity may inspire the formation of such esoterics. this may be on account of dealing with 'sensitive' or 'controversial' data, imagery or concepts that the conventional Christian finds too difficult to handle (possibly 'heretical' or 'blasphemous' if she accepts such categories, or merely too 'powerful' or 'advanced'). magical and theurgical categories might differ substantially rather than being unified in this way. the mage might be invested by the God, for example, with the power to emanate the power and energy *hirself* (rather than having to get it from some other source or to 'mediate' it, whatever this includes). granted their confluence, 'mediation' tends to imply a distance between the source, the channel and the effect. if one identifies a flow from one area to another, then this implies that what one is channelling is somehow *lacking* in the destination (else it might not be able to sustain addition -- this could be taken to mean that the Creation lacks 'spiritual energy'). 'the magical realm, the inner side of Creation' seems very vague to me. perhaps I am insuffiiciently studied to make sense of it. # "...what we are talking about here is the actual mediation of forces # or energies." instead of the *imagined* mediation of forces of energies? what would be the difference? what if the imagination causes important changes inside us or inspires us to do other things in response to our perceptions of having achieved it? # What do we all think of those quotes? valuable, but somewhat vague and limited in description. how does one prepare for this mediation? are certain individuals prone to greater success at it than others? what are the practical constants necessary to achieving it (if any)? are there legends and 'facts' about it which are overgeneralized as formulae for success? how much of what is claimed about it are cultural standards rather than principles of unchanging structure? # Very interesting and hopefully going to the heart of the matter. is there a magick which is not Christian? doesn't all power come from the divine? I agree that the quotations you provided speak to the central focus of this elist, which is why I have responded. # Whitehead states it is more than mysticism. interesting. I was planning to quote this in response to another post, but here you are mentioning the subject directly: A Mysticism is not a belief. It is a matter of direct experience resulting from interior illumination, now and then -- though not often -- arising spontaneously. More usually it results from persistence in certain religious practices, such as meditation, for instance. ---------------------------------------------------------- B The mystic attainment may be defined as the Union of the Soul with God, or as the soul's realization of Itself, or -- but there are fifty phrases to define the attainment. Whether you are a Christian or a Buddhist, a Theist or an Atheist, the attainment of this state is as open to you as is nightmare, or madness, or intoxication. Religious folk have buried this fact under mountains of dogma; but the study of comparative religion has made it clear. One has merely to print passages from the mystics of all ages and religions to see that they were talking of the same thing. One even gets verbal identities, such as the "That *tao* which is *tao* is not *tao*" of the Chinese, the "Not That, not That" of the Hindu, the "Head which is above all Heads, the Head which is not a Head" of the Qabalist, and the "That is not, which is" of a modern atheistic or pantheistic mystic. Mysticism, unless it be a mere barren intellectual doctrine, always involves some personal religious experience of this kind; and the real strength of every religion lies, consequently, in its mystics. The conviction of truth given by any important spiritual experience is so great that although it may have lasted for a few seconds only, it does not hesitate to pit itself against the experience of a lifetime, in respect of reality. The mystic doubts whether he, the man, exists at all, because he is so certain of the existence of him, the God; and the two beings are difficult to conceive intellectually as co-existent! ... The method of a mystic in proclaiming his "Law" is always the same. He takes one single, simple, fundamental, revolutionary remark, and makes the Universe obey it. Thus Mohammed with his "There is one God." The rest is but the harvest of that seed. So also Buddha with his denial of the *atman*, the cardinal doctrine of the Hindus; he puts his finger on the one essential of the system which he seeks to destroy, and the whole system explodes. A modern instance is the saying "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will." For mysticism at its best may be defined as Genius on a Religious plane. And all genius consists of two parts: one, the capacity to see, hear and feel everything in the world with accuracy; and two, the power to distill this impression to a quintessence, and pour it forth as a perfume. It interprets every phenomenon as a direct dealing of God with the soul, and it creates from each phenomenon an image of glory, radiates it and spreads it over the universe. Shelley has voiced the portrait of a true mystic in a single stanza: He will watch from dawn to gloom The Lake-reflected sun illume The yellow bees in the ivy-bloom, Nor heed nor see, what things they be But from these create he can Forms more real than living man, Nurslings of immortality! [from _Prometheus Unbound_, PB Shelley -- nocT] This is the keynote of all mystics, that their analysis of the Universe ultimates in Deity. The consciousness is no longer human, but divine. Country and language hardly vary the very expression. ... The Saviour's instructions to his disciples to "take no thought for the morrow," {Matt. 6:34} to "abandon father and mother and all other things," {Mark 10:28-30, Matt. 19:29, paraphrase} "not to have two cloaks," {Matt. 10:10. Mark 6:9, Luke 9:3, paraphrase} "not to resist evil," {Matt. 5:39, paraphrase} are merely the ordinary rules of every eastern and western mystic. ------------------------------------------------------- A/B both from _The Revival of Magick_, by Aleister Crowley, New Falcon w/ OTO, 1998; within "Mystics and Their Little Ways" and "The Attainment of Happiness" as reprinted therein, pp. 64-7, 72-4. _______________________________________________________ # Interested in comments: Doc Fox thanks for the opportunity, Doc. I feel that separating mysticism from magick is a wise move, but that doing so in description of a particular TYPE of magical effect is too limiting to the meaning that magick can have. instead I favor the notions of the classical Hermetics who indicate that magick is the intentional effecting of some change (some say 'of consciousness', others 'in accordance with the Will' (of God), and some leave this ambiguous to include all manner of making. I would say that mysticism is a SPECIAL CASE OF MAGICK, in that it effects the proper or powerful connection with the divine with the attendant results following. as a definition for THEURGY, that described by White suffices, but 'magical Christianity' is a poor and vague sort of phrase describing a flavor of the religion moreso than the Act taken by the Adept. instead I would say 'magical Christianity' is that sort of Christianity that INCLUDES magick as part of its accepted elements or principles, and that theurgy is the mediation of the God to the Creation (participating in the Creation if you like). it takes magick to effect theurgy, but theurgy itself is not magick (except that of the God, whose Work is the miracle). instead, thaumaturgy (as in the preparation for theurgy by the conservative or the effecting of change oneself as the agent of the divine) is what I would say rightly conforms to conventional notions of what 'magick' consists. blessed beast! nocTifer
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|